“I didn’t trust myself in Rio. I had hit a wall in February/March and went downhill from there. It was such a relief when I won the bronze. Tokyo was what I needed. And when lockdown forced me out of the water, I started reading books like The Champion’s Mind [by Jim Afremow]. I worked so hard in the garden and when I got back in the water, I was so grateful. And when I got to Tokyo, I had such a good routine. I knew I had done everything I could,” she explained.
Keane started swimming competitively at the age of 13 and credits her parents with always encouraging her to do anything she wanted to do. “They didn’t put up with anyone thinking less of me because I had a disability. I’ve come across people [with disabilities] who have been bubble-wrapped and they are incapable of doing things for themselves and that’s heart-breaking,” she said.
However she felt as a child that other children were sometimes afraid of her but that children nowadays are completely different. “Children now have so much more understanding – it could be because of their parents, their schools or that they have more exposure to people with disabilities.”
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